Outside shaft-bearing and stuffing-box for boats.



G.' s- SPENCER. vOUTSIDE SHAFT BEARING A ND STUFPING BOX POR BOATS'. APPLICATION LBD MAB.. 18, 1908.

Patented Apr. 6, 1909.

r s-Nomzls P rERs co .hill/NM1 l BY' y ATTORNEY.

NTED sirenas GEORGE S. SPENCER, OF MOODUS, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR CF ONE-HALF TO JAMES A. BALEN, OF EAST HADDAM, CCNNECTlCUT.

OUTSDE SHAFT-BEARING N23 STUFEhlG-EOX FGF BOATS.

Specification of Letters ?atent.

Application led March 16, 1908.

Patented April G, 1939.

Serial No. f$1,338.

Ib all whom it 'may conce/"1t:

Be it known that l. GEORGE S. Srnrzcna, a citizen or the United States, and a resident of Moodus, in the county or Middlesex and State of Coiniecticut, have invented certain near and useful improvements in Outside Sliaft-learin gs and Smiling-Bones for Boats, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to outside bearings and sluiting-bones for the propeller-shaft ol boats and has for its object to provide a construction whereby the propeller-shaft is al- `Ways lubricated Within the sluiting-box, and the end-thrust is either all taken up in the stutling-box or is divided between the stuiting-box and the engine; further, to maintain the packing under spring tension and thereby obviate the necessity of frequently tightening the stutling-box gland.

To enable others to understand my invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l represents a detail front end elevation of the stutling-box and propellershaft; F ig. 2 is a broken sectional view of the propeller-shaft bearing and sectional view of the stutng-box, packing and ballcases, and broken view of the propellershaft.

lts construction and operation are as follows:

l indicates the hub or base adapted to be secured to the stern-post of a boat by means of its flange la.

2 indicates a shell having a threaded mouth adapted to engage the threaded lip 3 of the main bearing. el indicates the oil chamber Within said shell adapted to be iilled with oil or other suitable lubricating material.

The stutEng-box proper is formed by the threaded lip 2 or' the shell 2 having the chambered portion 5 adapted to receive the spring G and the packing 7.

8 indicates the interior-ly threaded stuifing-box gland adapted to engage with the threaded lip 2a of the shell 2. The packing is firmly held against the inner Wall 82l o'l' said gland by means of the spring 6 acting against the outer tace of the central bearing 9 of the shell 2.

l0 indicates the propeller-shaft Whose tapered end l0a is adapted to receive the proeller-Wheel (not shown). rfhe end-thrust gearing on this shaft comprises the ballpeller-shatt.

bearing cases ll and l2, the former being iirinly seated in a recess of the base l While tl s latter is seated in a recess in the inner or right hand 3e or the adjustable nut 13. rlfhe outer tace of this nut has a threaded rec ss adapted to engage With the threaded cellar ll lirn'ily secured to the propeller'- sliart y means of the screv l5. The jamingt lt is mounted on this collar and is adapted to firmly loclr the nut 13 When the l-bearing has been properly adjusted. i 'ndica es a locking screw which passes throu li the shell 2 and the threaded lip 3 of the base ll to prevent the shell turning back when once firmly shouldered against the hub. ll-Yhenever it becomes necessary to refill the oil chamber, this screw is removed and the oil is poured or lubricant forced through the screw-hole into said chamber. The screw 17g locks the stalling-bex gland 8 to the lip 2a of the shell 2.

has been the custom heretofore, especially in small boats or launches, to locate the end-thrust bearing for the propellershaft at the engine. rlhis arrangement makes more or less of a drag or load on the engine which is entirely eliminated by bringing said end pressure or thrust against the stern-post of the boat and locating the ballbearings in the outer bearing or' the prot there is already a ballbearing on the propeller-shalt hub of the engine, tie end-thrust can be divided between the stern-post and engine, or it may all be brought against the stern-post.

lt is not only a very ditlicult operation to pack the stuiling-box, located as it is under `Water and unhandy to get at, but it is also a troublesome matter to lreep it tight ior any length of time so that Water and sand can not Work through to the detriment of the outer bearing t'or the propellershaft. Consequently, it is customary to crowd as much packing as possible into the stutling-box and screw the gland up as tar as it can be forced at the time, and, as fast as the packing Wears, the gland must be advanced to take up this Wear. This being a. diliicult matter to do, and the construction being out ol' sight, it is frequently neglected until the stalling-box is ruined.

vWhen the stalling-box gland 8 is being` screwed up, it will force the packing 7 against the spring 6, compressing the latter to such an extent that When the mouth 0f llo lili:

lla

the gland is brought firmly against the shouldered portion 2b of the shell 2, there will have been sufficient power stored up in the spring to compensate for the wear on the packing for a long period of time;- thus entirely doing away with the necessity of continually tightening up the gland. In other words, the gland is screwed firmly against the shoulder 2b at the start, leaving the spring to react on the packing and maintain a tight joint around the propeller-shaft.

It is not only necessary that the journals for the shaft should be well lubricated, but it is equally important that the packing be lubricated too, else the propeller-shaft will be cut by the friction'caused by the shaft running against dry packing. For this purpose, the holes 9:L are formed in the wall or central bearing 9 so that the chamber 5 may also be filled with oil. Once these chambers are filled with oil or other lubricant, it will suffice for an entire season. Vrlhe oil will not only keep the ball-bearing lubricated, but the packing and all of the other bearings as well. By the arrangement above described, it is possible to keep the outer end of the stuiing-box gland thoroughly lubricated, which heretofore has been a diicult matter to do.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. The combination, in a combined stuing-box and outside bearing for a propeller-V shaft, of a base having a flange portion adapted to be secured to the stern of a boat, the propeller-shaft journaled in said base, a shell having a threaded mouth adapted to be secured on a threaded portion of said base and thus form an oil-chamber, a threaded collar secured to said shaft and within the oil-chamber, an adjusting nut carrying in its inner vertical face a ball-bearing case, the opposite ball-bearing case secured in a recess of said base, means for tightening said nut, a stufiing-box in the outer end of said shell, a partition-wall between said stuffing-box and oil-chamber, a stufhngbox gland shouldered against said shell, packing Within said stuflingbox, a spring between said partitionwall and packing adapted toy be compressed when said gland is seated so that the resilient action of said spring will crowd the packing against the end wall of said gland, for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, in a combined stuffing-box and propeller-shaftbearing, of a flanged Vbase, a. threaded extension therefor` a shell carrying a stuffing-box at one end and having a recess with a threaded mouth at the other end adapted to be secured on the threaded extension of the base and thus form an oil-reservoir of said recess, means for locking said shell and base together, a ballbearing end-thrust bearing within said oilchamber, a partition-wall between the stuifing-box recess and the oil chamber to form a bearing for the propeller-shaft, a. gland for said stuiiing-box firmly seated against said shell, packing, a metal spring behind said r packing adapted to be compressed when the stuffing-box gland is seated, for the purpose set forth.

Signed at East Haddam, in the county of Middlesex and State of Connecticut this 12th day of March A. D. 1908.

GEORGE S. SPENCER.

Witnesses 1 Y l VALTER W. BECKWITH, S. P. CLaRK. 

